Embroidery hoop and methods for using same

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are embroidery hoops and methods for using same that include a receiving surface for receiving a workpiece that has a first surface corresponding to a first face of a hook and loop fastener. The receiving surface has an opening therethrough and attachment material is secured to the receiving surface at least partially about the opening. The attachment material has a surface corresponding to a complimentary face of the hook and loop fastener. Contact of the surface of the workpiece to the surface of the attachment material releasably secures a portion of the workpiece over the opening for performing an embroidery operation on the portion of the workpiece over the opening.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to, and incorporates by reference, the entire disclosure of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/687,033, filed on Jun. 3, 2005.

FIELD

The disclosed methods and systems relate to embroidery hoops and methods for using the same, and more specifically to embroidery hoops for embroidering golf gloves.

BACKGROUND

Embroidery hoops to facilitate embroidering designs on various clothing items are commonly used in the textile industry. Such embroidery hoops are used to hold the fabric of clothing items in place while the embroidery needle is employed to sew or weave designs or appliques (e.g., label) onto the fabric.

Traditional embroidery hoops generally comprise nested hoops that press against the fabric sandwiched by the hoops, thereby keeping the fabric stationary as the design is being woven or sown by the embroidery machine. Other variations of embroidery hoops include hoops designed to receive a pressure ring that presses against the sandwiched fabric.

Disadvantageously, the use of traditional embroidery hoops places limitations on the thickness of the fabric that can be sandwiched between the embroidery hoop's parts. For example, a fabric that is too thick may make it difficult to secure one hoop part to the other in a mating fashion. Another disadvantage of the use of traditional embroidery hoops is that it is relatively time consuming to place the fabric in the hoop as it is often necessary to first disengage the various hoop parts from each other, and subsequently place those parts back together after the fabric has been put in position.

Moreover, additional problems associated with embroidering designs on clothing items arise when the clothing item to be embroidered is made of discrete and disparate parts, each of which may be made of different fabrics and different dimensions. For example, a golf glove generally includes the glove itself and a flap designed to adjustably tighten the glove over different hand sizes. With clothing items such as golf gloves it therefore becomes difficult to properly secure the item to an embroidery hoop since certain parts of the item may be left dangling off the hoop, thereby causing the item to move during the embroidery process. As a result, golf glove manufacturers have traditionally produced the flaps separately from the gloves, embroidered a design onto the flaps and/or the gloves, and then sewn the flaps to the gloves. Producing clothing item parts separately and then sewing them together after embroidering one or more of the parts is a complicated and laborious process.

SUMMARY

Disclosed are embroidery hoops that include a receiving surface for receiving a clothing workpiece, a holding mechanism attached to the receiving surface, where the holding mechanism is configured to secure the clothing workpiece, and an attachment mechanism for attaching the receiving surface to a support structure to keep the receiving surface stationary.

In some embodiments the receiving surface may have a substantially circular shape. The receiving surface may have a centrally located opening or cutout substantially matching the shape of the clothing workpiece, and the holding mechanism may comprise attachment material configured to attach to the workpiece along the outer edges of the central depression. Such attachment material may be one face of a hook and loop type fastener. For example, the attachment material may be the hook or loop face of a VELCRO® fastener.

In some embodiments the attachment mechanism may comprise a first strap attached at one of its ends to a first location of the receiving surface, a first connector attached to another end of the first strap, the first connector configured to fasten to the support structure, a second strap attached at one of its ends to a second location of the receiving surface, and a second connector at another end of the second strap, the second connector configured to fasten to the support structure.

In one embodiment, an embroidery hoop includes a receiving surface for receiving a workpiece. The receiving surface having an opening therethrough and attachment material is secured to the receiving surface at least partially about the opening. The attachment material is configured to releasably secure an embroidery area of the workpiece over the opening for performing an embroidery operation on the embroidery area of the workpiece.

In some aspects, the attachment material can include one face of a hook and loop fastener material for fastening to a complimentary face on the workpiece. In some aspects, the attachment material includes an adhesive forming a releasable bond with the workpiece, or a magnetic material forming a releasable magnetic bond with the workpiece.

In some aspects, the attachment material includes a material forming a releasable bond with the workpiece to releasably secure the embroidery area of the workpiece over the opening, where the bond is of a type including one of a hook and loop fastener bond, an adhesive bond, and/or a magnetic bond.

In some aspects, the attachment material can be fabricated in a plurality of pieces. In some aspects, the attachment material partially aligns with an edge of the receiving surface circumscribing the opening, or the attachment material is partially secured to an edge of the receiving surface circumscribing the opening.

In one embodiment, an embroidery hoop includes a receiving surface for receiving a workpiece and attachment material secured to the receiving surface at least partially about an opening in the receiving surface. The workpiece has a first surface corresponding to a first face of a hook and loop fastener and the attachment material has a second surface corresponding to a complimentary face of the hook and loop fastener. Contact of the first surface of the workpiece to the second surface of the attachment material releasably secures a portion of the workpiece over the opening for performing an embroidery operation on the portion of the workpiece over the opening.

In one embodiment, a method for embroidering a design on a workpiece includes providing an embroidery hoop having a receiving surface with an opening where the embroidering is to be performed and attachment material secured to the receiving surface at least partially about the opening, contacting the workpiece to the attachment material to releasably secure an embroidery area of the workpiece over the opening, and embroidering the design on the workpiece to obtain an embroidered workpiece. In one aspect, the method includes peeling the embroidered workpiece from the attachment material to remove the embroidered workpiece from the embroidery hoop.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of one embodiment of an embroidery hoop;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the embroidery hoop of FIG. 1, taken along line 2-2; and

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a method of embroidering using an embroidery hoop.

DESCRIPTION

To provide an overall understanding, certain illustrative embodiments will now be described; however, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the systems and methods described herein can be adapted and modified to provide systems and methods for other suitable applications and that other additions and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the systems and methods described herein.

Unless otherwise specified, the illustrated embodiments can be understood as providing exemplary features of varying detail, and therefore, unless otherwise specified, features, components, modules, and/or aspects of the illustrations can be otherwise combined, separated, interchanged, and/or rearranged without departing from the disclosed systems or methods. Additionally, the shapes and sizes of components are also exemplary and unless otherwise specified, can be altered without affecting the disclosed systems or methods.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of an embroidery hoop for securing a clothing workpiece (not shown in FIG. 1 for clarity), onto which an embroidery (e.g., a design, label, applique, etc.) is to be woven or sewn, using, for example, an embroidery machine (also not shown in FIG. 1). FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the embroidery hoop of FIG. 1 with a clothing workpiece 10 secured thereto for embroidering thereon. The hoop 100 includes a receiving surface 102 upon which clothing workpiece 10 may be placed. Receiving surface 102 may be, for example, a substantially flat surface free of surface perturbations, configured to receive clothing workpiece 10. In an embodiment, surface 102 may be a substantially circular surface. Receiving surface 102 may also be substantially flat and contiguous (i.e., without any holes or openings in the surface, other than that specifically described herein). It will be understood by those versed in the art that the actual shape of the receiving surface is arbitrary, and that any surface shape suitable for receiving clothing workpiece 10 may be used. Furthermore, the receiving surface need not be substantially flat or contiguous, and that surfaces having, for example, openings or holes, can also be used. Thus, in some embodiments grille-like or grate-like receiving surfaces can be used for receiving clothing workpiece 10. Additionally, to prevent workpiece 10 from easily slipping off receiving surface 102 and/or to provide additional strength to the receiving surface, a surface rim 108 may be used to surround receiving surface 102.

As further shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, attached to the receiving surface 102 is a holding mechanism that holds the clothing workpiece in place and maintains workpiece 10 in a stationary position during the embroidery process. While maintaining clothing workpiece 10 in place during the embroidery process, the holding mechanism may provide unobstructed access to the clothing workpiece's embroidery area (i.e., the surface onto which the embroidery is to be applied) so that in situations where, for example, an embroidery machine is used to perform the embroidery, no boundary constraints need to be imposed or defined to ensure that the embroidery needle avoids any of the hard surfaces of ring-type holding mechanisms that press against the clothing workpiece's surface as is done, for example, with traditional embroidery hoops.

In some embodiments the receiving surface 102 may include an opening or cutout 104 having dimensions and configuration that approximate the dimensions and contours of the embroidery area. Attachment material 106 is positioned and secured about the periphery of cutout 104 and facilitates holding workpiece 10 in place during the embroidery operation. The dimensions and configuration of cutout 104 and attachment material 106 may be such that workpiece 10 fits over attachment material 106 with the embroidery area of workpiece 10 positioned over cutout 104. The position of the embroidery area over cutout 104 is maintained as a result of the attachment of attachment material 106 to workpiece 10.

In some embodiments cutout 104 may be located approximately in the center of receiving surface 102 so as to avoid an uneven weight distribution of the clothing workpiece caused by positioning cutout 104, and thus positioning workpiece 10, at a non-central location of receiving surface 102, which consequently may cause the embroidery hoop 100 to be tilted in an unexpected way. However, it will be appreciated by those versed in the art that in some embodiments the location of cutout 104 may be positioned in an off-center location on the receiving surface 102. In one example, cutout 104 may have a D-shape that matches, for example, the shape of adjustment flaps used in golf gloves.

Preferably, attachment material 106 is positioned completely about cutout 104 to continuously secure workpiece 10 around the edge of cutout 104 and to and prevent any undue movement of the embroidery area during the embroidery operation. However, it may be appreciated that in some embodiments, attachment material 106 may comprise a number of separate pieces and may be positioned partially about cutout 104. Also preferably, attachment material 106 is positioned to generally align with edge 104 a of cutout 104, as shown in FIG. 2, to minimize the amount of workpiece 10 secured over cutout 104. However, in some embodiments, portions or all of attachment material 106 may be offset a distance from edge 104 a, or may be positioned on edge 104 a. Attachment material 106 may be secured to receiving surface 102 by one or more means as are known in the art, including but not limited to adhesives, fasteners, stitching, and other known attachment means.

As described, attachment material 106 holds workpiece 10 thereto so as to prevent workpiece 10 from slipping during the embroidery operation. In some embodiments, attachment material 106 may be one face of a hook and loop type fastener. For example, the attachment material may be the hook or loop face of a VELCRO® fastener. A clothing workpiece, such as, for example, a golf glove flap comprising a material or fabric complementary to attachment material 106, may then be attached to attachment material 106, and thus be releasably secured to embroidery hoop 100.

It will of course be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a myriad of other holding mechanisms may be employed to secure the clothing workpiece to the embroidery hoop, e.g., snaps, hooks, and including other types of attachment materials that form releasable bonds with the clothing workpiece. For example, adhesive strips may be positioned about cutout 104, that adhesively attach to workpiece 10. In another example, magnetic materials so positioned may magnetically attach to a magnetizable workpiece, or portions thereof. Moreover, such attachment materials may be used in conjunction with a cutout such as cutout 104, or may be used with other type of auxiliary parts or components to adequately secure the workpiece to the embroidery hoop and prevent any undue movement of the workpiece during the embroidery operation.

Preferably, the holding mechanism used with embroidery hoop 100 should provide unobstructed access to the surface of the clothing workpiece facing the workpiece such that the embroidery needle can easily access that surface. Additionally the holding mechanism should enable quick mounting of the clothing workpiece onto the holding mechanism, to thereby avoid time-consuming mounting procedures that are often required with traditional embroidery hoops. Thus, for example, having cutout 104 on the receiving surface 102 whose edge 104 a aligns with attachment material 106, such as the hook face of a hook and loop fastener, enables a quick placement of workpiece 10 (for example, a golf glove flap having a complimentary loop type material) over the attachment material 106. The engagement of the hooks of attachment material 106 to the loops of workpiece 10 then holds the flap securely in place over cutout 104. After the embroidery operation has been completed, clothing workpiece 10 can be quickly and easily removed by pulling away workpiece 10 from attachment material 106 to disengage the loops of workpiece 10 from the hooks of attachment material 106.

The embroidery hoop further comprises an attachment mechanism for attaching the embroidery hoop to a non-movable support structure (not shown in FIG. 1) that keeps the entire embroidery hoop 100 stationary during the embroidery procedure. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, such an attachment mechanism may comprise a first strap 110 and a second strap 112, which are used to attach the embroidery hoop to the support structure. The first and second straps 110 and 112 may be attached to opposite ends of the receiving surface 102, or, as shown in FIG. 1, to the rim 108 surrounding the receiving surface 102. Of course, the actual points of attachment between the straps used in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and the receiving surface (or rim) are arbitrary. The straps may be constructed from any suitable durable material, such as, for example, plastic. It will be understood by those versed in the art that many other types of attachment mechanism for keeping the embroidery hoop stationary may be used. For example, the receiving surface may comprise a fastening part, such as a screw, coupled to the bottom of the receiving surface 102, which may be then screwed into a threaded hole provided on a surface located underneath an embroidery machine.

As further shown in FIG. 1, fixed to the end of each of straps 110 and 112 (i.e., the ends of the straps that are not attached to the receiving surface or its rim) are respective connectors 114 and 116. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, connector 114 is a hook comprising a substantially flat metal strip having a U-shaped indentation 115 proximate one end of the strip. That U-shaped indentation can be secured, for example, to a vertical tube made from a deformable but resilient material, and having a radius that is slightly larger than the width of the U-shaped indentation 115. To secure the connector 114 onto the support structure, the U-shaped indentation is forced against the vertical tube, which initially deforms as the U-shaped indentation 115 of the connector 114 is pressed against it. Subsequently, as the tube returns to its initial size, the tube's outer walls press against the edges of the U-shaped indentation, thus keeping the hook in place, and preventing it from easily slipping off the tube. When the embroidery hoop 100 is to be removed from the support structure, the connector 114 can be pulled off the vertical tube by exerting a moderate amount of force to pry the hook away from the tube.

As can further be seen in FIG. 1, the connector 114 may include other indentations and openings, such as rectangular hole 122, that may be secured to other parts of the support structure, and thereby keep the embroidery hoop 100 in place. Similarly, connector 116 may also include indentations and/or openings, such as, for example, U-shaped indentation 126 and rectangular hole 128, that may be secured to corresponding parts of the support structure to facilitate maintaining the embroidery hoop 100 stationary during the embroidery process. Such indentations and/or openings may be designed for ease of placing those indentations and/or openings on the corresponding parts of the support structure, and for easy removal from such parts thereafter. It will further be appreciated by the person of ordinary skill in the art that other types of devices and/or components for securing, for example, the straps shown in the embodiments of FIG. 1 to a support structure(s) may be used.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a method 200 for use of the embroidery hoop of FIGS. 1 and 2. In the operation of some embodiments, embroidery hoop 100 is attached, as shown at block 202, to a support structure such that cutout 104 is positioned at the site of the embroidery operation to be performed. The area of workpiece 10 to receive the embroidering, i.e., the embroidery area, is oriented over cutout 104, as shown at block 204. The area of workpiece 10 adjacent or near to the embroidery area is contacted against attachment material 106 (block 206) to attach workpiece 10 to attachment material 106. Preferably, contact is started at one portion of attachment material 106 and proceeds in opposite directions around the periphery of cutout 104 until contact is made with substantially all of attachment material 106, allowing workpiece 10 to attach to attachment material 106 and to be tightly held to minimize movement of workpiece 10 during the embroidery operation. However, those of skill in the art will recognize that other contact sequences may be used and partial contact or attachment may suffice to adequately hold workpiece 10 during the embroidery operation, depending on the tolerances of the embroidery operation.

Once workpiece 10 is attached, the embroidery operation can begin (block 208). Upon completion of the embroidery operation, workpiece 10 is pulled away from attachment material 106 (block 210) and the operation is complete. When workpiece 10 and attachment material 106 are configured as a hook and loop fastener, preferably workpiece 10 is removed or pulled away from attachment material starting at one portion of attachment material 106 and peeling workpiece 10 from attachment material 106 in the manner known by those of skill in the art for uncoupling hook and loop fasteners. However, those of skill in the art will recognize that other removal sequences may be used, depending on the nature of the attachment material 106 and the workpiece 10.

Although the embroidery hoops and methods for using same have been described relative to specific embodiments thereof, they are not so limited. Obviously many modifications and variations may become apparent in light of the above teachings. Unless otherwise stated, use of the word “substantially” can be construed to include a precise relationship, condition, arrangement, orientation, and/or other characteristic, and deviations thereof as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, to the extent that such deviations do not materially affect the disclosed methods and systems.

Throughout the entirety of the present disclosure, use of the articles “a” or “an” to modify a noun can be understood to be used for convenience and to include one, or more than one of the modified noun, unless otherwise specifically stated.

Elements, components, modules, and/or parts thereof that are described and/or otherwise portrayed through the figures to communicate with, be associated with, and/or be based on, something else, can be understood to so communicate, be associated with, and or be based on in a direct and/or indirect manner, unless otherwise stipulated herein.

Many additional changes in the details, materials, and arrangement of parts, herein described and illustrated, can be made by those skilled in the art. 

1. An embroidery hoop comprising: a receiving surface for receiving a workpiece, the receiving surface having an opening therethrough, attachment material secured to the receiving surface at least partially about the opening, the attachment material configured to releasably secure an embroidery area of the workpiece over the opening for performing an embroidery operation on the embroidery area of the workpiece.
 2. The embroidery hoop of claim 1, wherein the attachment material comprises one face of a hook and loop fastener material for fastening to a complimentary face on the workpiece.
 3. The embroidery hoop of claim 1, wherein the attachment material comprises an adhesive forming a releasable bond with the workpiece.
 4. The embroidery hoop of claim 1, wherein the attachment material comprises a magnetic material forming a releasable magnetic bond with the workpiece.
 5. The embroidery hoop of claim 1, wherein the attachment material comprises a material forming a releasable bond with the workpiece to releasably secure the embroidery area of the workpiece over the opening, the bond being of a type including one of a hook and loop fastener bond, an adhesive bond, and a magnetic bond.
 6. The embroidery hoop of claim 1, wherein the attachment material comprises a plurality of pieces.
 7. The embroidery hoop of claim 1, wherein the attachment material at least partially aligns with an edge of the receiving surface circumscribing the opening.
 8. The embroidery hoop of claim 1, wherein the attachment material is secured at least partially to an edge of the receiving surface circumscribing the opening.
 9. An embroidery hoop comprising: a receiving surface for receiving a workpiece, the receiving surface having an opening therethrough, the workpiece having a first surface corresponding to a first face of a hook and loop fastener, and attachment material secured to the receiving surface at least partially about the opening, the attachment material having a second surface corresponding to a complimentary face of the hook and loop fastener, wherein contact of the first surface of the workpiece to the second surface of the attachment material releasably secures a portion of the workpiece over the opening for performing an embroidery operation on the portion of the workpiece over the opening.
 10. A method for embroidering a design on a workpiece, the method comprising: providing an embroidery hoop having: a) a receiving surface having an opening therethrough where the embroidering is to be performed, and b) attachment material secured to the receiving surface at least partially about the opening, contacting the workpiece to the attachment material to releasably secure an embroidery area of the workpiece over the opening, and embroidering the design on the workpiece to obtain an embroidered workpiece.
 11. The method of claim 10, comprising peeling the embroidered workpiece from the attachment material to remove the embroidered workpiece from the embroidery hoop. 